The other day (yesterday) I was thinking about the great rivalries in sport – Prost and Senna; Messi and Ronaldo; Bjorg and McEnroe. These are the sort of rivalries that can increase interest in the sport.
There are obviously rivalries between teams and their fans too, much like there are rivalries between certain bands and their fans (e.g. Oasis v Blur, Beatles v Stones et al.)
So, are there any rivalries (positve or otherwise) between musicians or athletes that you’re particularly fond of?
Right here, right now…
A couple of splendid rivalries are growing in motorcycle racing.
In Motogp, the otherworldly precocious talent of Marc Marquez on a (reputedly) difficult to ride Honda Vs a slightly less talented, but bloody minded Andrea Dovizioso on a rocketship Ducatl.
Throw in a still quick Rossi on a dog Yamaha and see why Motogp is the world’s premier racing series……F1 fans must weep.
A similar fight is brewing in World Superbike.
Johnny Rea…a multiple champion in the series on what was (untill this year) the best bike…a Kawasaki…against Alvaro Bautista on a again, rocketship, brand new Ducatl.
Bautista has won ALL nine races so far this year and Rae is almost about to throw his rattle out of the pram.
Just this week the sports governing body have capped the faster Dukes rev limit in an attempt to equalise the different bikes performance…..WSB has equalization rules.
It’s simmering nicely.
Poor old Johnny Rea…
I was going to say Ian McCulloch vs Julian Cope, but after thinking about it, they both hated lots of other people too. Mac described Paddy McAloon as having the most insincere voice in music. Cope said something so nasty about Bill Drummond that prompted the KLF dude to write a song entitled Julian Cope is Dead. But for a time, in the pages of the NME at least, the rivalry was good.
Coe and Ovett
That was a rivalry dreamt up by the media.
They rarely competed directly against each other and even when they did they were on quite friendly terms, according to Seb.
Hmmm. They only competed against each other in major championships after very early days which made for an intense rivalry. And for a period (1980 or 81?) one or the other seemed to be breaking records every time they raced. Maybe they didn’t hate each other but it was pretty special.
I think many such rivalries are media led. I’m sure I’ve read that both Blur & Oasis just wanted a number 1 and didn’t much care who was at number 2 at the time.
I was fortunate enough to be at the Morcambe bay ‘seaside tour’ the night Blur got to number one with ‘Country House’. I’d say they were pretty pleased to have beat Oasis. No doubt the record companies and media stoked the fire but the rivalry was genuine at the time. It certainly made it a special gig to be at.
Yes or ELP
Fairport or Steeleye
Purple or Sabbath
Wizzard or Slade
Pistols v Clash
Spandau Ballet v Duran Duran
Culture Club (well, Boy George) v anybody and everybody
Duran Duran v Kajagoogoo
Elvis Costello and Wreckless Eric.
And then there was the anecdote about Naomi Campbell and Claudia Schiffer. Naomi Campbell had just published her autobiography. Claudia Schiffer ‘ I enjoyed your book, who wrote it for you?’
Naomi Campbell : ‘Glad you enjoyed it, who read it to you?’
Surely Stones / Beatles. Yes mates but there was a rivalry.
Didn’t the Beatles and the Stones have an unwritten agreement not to release singles or albums at the same time?
Spurs and Arsenal.
A bit like Coe and Ovett if Coe and Ovett had both been desperate to finish fourth.
Arf! A round of applause for this man please
Oh ho Deram, I like that one! (Says an Ipswich fan.)
Stiff Little Fingers vs Undertones
The Undertones accused SLF of glamourising The Troubles, whilst SLF suggested that The Undertones should be recognising the fact they exist rather than singing about Subbuteo.
The inner cover of SLF’s Nobody’s Heroes was a rip-off of The Undertones album cover, right down to the goofy smiles.
Is it still there? – I think John O’Neill may still harbour a grudge (based purely on Interviews) but The Undertones and XSLF both appeared with PiL at a Festival in Bangor last year
Benn and Eubank
To this day, Benn still harbours thoughts of a third fight, and there’s no sense of the passage of time/onset of wisdom leading to the downing of weapons.
I spent some time with each of them back in their heydays, and Benn revealed that he feared Eubank. ‘His body looks like fucking teak’ he said. When I mentioned this to Eubank, he shrugged and said ‘We don’t see ourselves in 3D, so his fear of me doesn’t give me any sense of superiority’. Which was a pretty smart thing.
For a brief moment, though, they were inadvertently allies…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0lpEmsxjHk
Oh yes and you met them? Very jealous. Eubank probably had the hardest chin ever. Benn was relentlessly brave with a hint of stupidity in boxing terms thrown in. What great fights they were.
Too true. I spent quite a bit of time with Eubank in the lead up to his fight with Joe Calzaghe. If you remember, it was supposed to be Steve Collins vs Joe, but Collins only went and retired, and so it became Comeback Eubank vs Upstart Calzaghe. The Sky folks came into the changing room beforehand to talk about Eubank’s walk-on music. He was keen on a classical piece, but in the end it was GG’s ‘Hello Hello, Good To Be Back’, followed by ‘Simply The Best’ First round, first minute, left hook from Calzaghe floors Eubank. Around the 6th round, Naseem Hamed shouts from the front row ‘You’re an old man Eubanks’ (always ‘Eubanks’, CE’s original surname), and Eubank shouts back ‘Shut up Naseem!’. Marvellous.
Brilliant. Naz was great for a while. It’s funny but when there was talk of Eubank and Benn fighting against recently I thought they would probably still put on a great show but like The Jam it’s best left to the memories….
Blur or Oasis
Whizzer or Chips
NME or MM
Sounds
Smash Hits 😉
Ruskin and Whistler. Ruskin won in court but Whistler clearly has a moral victory. I particularly like the Truman Capote putdown of Jack Kerouac on being asked if he liked his writing – he said ” that’s not writing that’s typing”.
Archie and Middlerabbit
It’s unadvisable to go there, Dave.
http://johnpilger.com/videos/burp-pepsi-v-coke-in-the-ice-cold-war
Human League vs. Heaven 17
Duke Reid vs. Sir Coxsone Dodd
The Lookalikes v U2
Back in 1979 in Dublin there was some question as to which, if either, of these bands would make it “to the top”. The Lookalikes seemed like early favourites, with their very end-of-that-decade catchy power pop tunes, which seemed more suited to daytime play on Ireland’s newly established legit national pop radio station than Ver ‘2’s Banshee guitars.
Turned out the LLs barely stumbled as far as getting out an album before crashing and burning, while the A Celebration hitmakers refused to go away and just got bigger and bigger like a fatberg in a sewer..
Remember them like this: